A Shieldmaiden's Vow
by morgan la fay
Summary: A Rohinian girl is caught up in a deperate battle to save middle earth. Torn between saving herself of saving her family, she is in need of serious guidence. Will a certain elf be able to help? wink wink
1. Memories

Author's Note: Hey people! This is my first story....EVER. So please read and review, but be nice. I'm learning. Thanks everybody! Oh ya! Everything between * things are a flashback/memory thingy ______________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 1 'Memories'  
  
She peered over the high edge of the battlement. The ground far bellow was a sea of muck. Bryn sighed and pulled the thin blanket closer around her in a vain attempt to keep out of the rain. She huddled in the corner and put her head in her lap, listening to the faint sound of clanging metal she was sure must be the Uruk-Hai army. She closed her eyes and thought instead of her brother.  
  
*******Bryn and Keevan had always been close, they had lived on a farm a day away from the nearest town when they had been growing up, so, naturally, they had relied on each other for company. So when his sickness hit, she was a wreck. She had watched over him day and night, fighting sleep, afraid she would miss a vital sign in what was wrong. Her parents had to ban her from his room. But he only kept getting sicker. Magical healers from all over middle earth had tried to cure him, but with no effect. In the third month of Keevan's sickness, he devolved horrible, burning rashes all over his body and his piercing screams could be heard ringing through the house. Because of this, Bryn spent most of her time outdoors. She spent hours a day polishing up her flawless sword techniques. By the time fall had come, there was no doubt in her mind she could beat Keevan at sparring. If he ever got better.  
One day, while out practicing, Bryn had noticed a cloud of dust growing on the horizon. Somehow, as she sat and watched, she knew this was no normal troop. A group of guards often stopped by the farm to check on her family's health, "but this time," she thought, "it's different." Each day, a little bit more darkness crept across the sky like a thief, stealing more sunshine with each passing day. To her, these men were a bad omen, coming to steal what little hope she left.  
They arrived by nightfall, and one by one, slowly dismounted their horses. Bryn climbed like a cat up onto the roof to listen. There was silence for a long time and she could feel the tension in the air. Finally one man spoke. "By order of King Theoden, all Rohan is to make for the refuge of Helms Deep. Uruk-Hai are storming our land and we must seek protection. If you hurry and pack, you may be able to catch up with the refugees from Edoras." There was a tone of urgency in his voice that made Bryn nervous. She gathered her courage and peeked over the edge of the roof. She saw her father shake hands with the man and walk back inside. Her mother just stood in the doorway, starring blankly at the grassy plains.  
The next day was a blur as they hurried to pack. Her father spent all day building a special wagon for Keevan, who was still very sick. Bryn helped her mother pack away some of the family's treasures and burry them in the yard. "This way," her mother explained, "we can find them, safe and sound, after the war is over." Only now, Bryn wasn't sure the war ever would be over, how could it be? The world was growing darker with each passing day, and she could feel it. The animals dying, great cultures being lost as people fought for survival. The old ways were gone, and Bryn began to loose hope.  
The journey to Helm's deep had been hard on her family. They had met up with the travelers from Edoras on the fifth day, and they had been immediately split up. Her father, who was a skilled horseman, had gone to join the Riders of Rohan in leading the people on, and her mother was sent to the women in charge of food to help prepare meals for the weary travelers. Bryn and Keevan fell to the back of the group, as Bryn had to drag the cart her brother rested feverishly on. They carried on like this for days, and the only thing Bryn looked forward to was her occasional glimpsed at the strange men accompanying Theoden.  
One, she was sure, must be a Dwarf. He was short, and she guessed around 5 feet tall and was very stout, but looked strong enough to take on any one of the warriors. He sported a full, thick beard that his most of his strong features, and carried a set of battle axes at his side. He wore a fine looking set of armor, engraved with strange markings she could only guess were Dwarvish runes.  
The second was a human, although she could not tell were from. He wore a brown leather tunic and chain mail. On his feet were shoes that bore strange elvish writing. He also had on two Gondorian wrist bands. Most strangely though, around his neck he wore a shimmering jewel on a chain. Bryn had never seen anything so beautiful. It sparkled as if a tiny star had been captured inside it, and was fighting to get out. The thing was truly hypnotizing and if she stared at it for to long, she could hear a faint, feminine voice singing a beautiful story of love and hope. She could tell the man cherished it, as he would reach up sub-consciously and grasp it. He traveled mostly on foot in the company of a woman she knew well. Eowen, Theoden's niece, was a legend within the common people.  
The third companion was the one that truly caught her attention though. He was beautiful. His face was perfectly shaped with a sharp bone structure and a pale completion that seemed to make him glow. His eyes were deep set pools of blue and stood out handsomely from his pale skin. Long, blonde hair fell around his shoulders and when pulled back, revealed a set of pointy ears. Bryn knew he was an elf. She tried to ignore this elf, not because she didn't wish to speak to him, but because she did not feel she even had a right to think about him. It wasn't that Bryn thought herself ugly, the opposite in fact. She knew she was pretty, with flowing red hair that perfectly framed her slim, symmetrical face. Her small frame was nicely curved and she looked good in most of the rags that poverty forced her to wear. It was just that the Elf seemed like a symbol of the perfect being and anyone less than he should not rightly speak to him.  
Bryn was pondering these exact matters when the Wargs attacked. More than anything, she had wanted to leap onto a horse and ride to war beside the Elf, let him see she was a valuable warrior. Instead, she had been pushed into the swarm of fleeing people, dragging her brother along behind her. It was only latter, after she met up with her mother at Helms Deep, that her father had been killed in battle. She was heart broken and silently vowed to never again let anything happen to her family. This is why, when the soldiers came, she had disguised herself as a man to save the increasingly sick Keevan from war, which would surely claim his life.***************  
  
Bryn buried her head in her lap at the pain of these resent memories. Now, as she sat on the cold, dreary, corner of the fortress and as the eerie silence wound it's way among the men, Bryn was dreaming of the most Heroic ways to die. She was so deep in thought that she jumped when a voice right above her inquired, "May I Join you?"  
  
Ok, the first chapter is over! I need you all to read and review please! Helpful flames only (that being like comments on how to improve it) but I have a tough hide so say what you want. Thanks for reading! 


	2. Author's Note

Hi, I'd like to thank everyone who had read my story, and I just wanted to say don't worry because I am writing the next chapter, but it is coming VERY slowly. It will be up some day, thanks all for being patient. Oh ya, and sorry bout the spelling/grammar errors in the first chapter, but I didn't notice till after I posted it and now I can't figure out how to fix it. Please continue to read and review, thanks a ton to all who have.  
  
Lisa. (a.k.a. Morgan La Fey) 


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